On the occasion of celebrating the 75th anniversary of Victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, Ambassador Zhang Zuo published a signed article titled "Remember History and Protect Peace Together -- on the 75th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War" on "Nova Makedonija", one of the largest newspapers in the North Macedonia, and its website on September 3. The full text in English is as follows:

    September 3 is a date that deserves to be always remembered by the Chinese people and people all over the world. On September 3, 1945, after 14 years of arduous struggle from 1931 to 1945, the Chinese people won the great victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, marking the total victory of the World Anti-Fascist War.

    The Chinese war of resistance against Japanese aggression has made major contribution to the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. On the Chinese battlefield, 1.5 million of Japanese troops were killed, seriously injured or captured, accounting for over 70% of the total Japanese casualties. As many as 4 million Japanese troops were tied down on the Chinese battlefield at its peak. Before the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941, China fought against the Japanese aggression alone and tied down as many as 94% of Japanese army. Even after 1941, 69% of Japanese troops were still bogged down on the Chinese battlefield instead of being dispatched elsewhere. The impressive war record of the Chinese people at the huge cost of blood and lives made China one of the victors of the World Anti-Fascist War, one of the founders of the United Nations, and naturally one of the Permanent Member of the UN Security Council.

    The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was an important component of the World Anti-Fascist War. The Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression started the earliest, ended the latest and lasted the longest. In defiance of aggression, China's unyielding sons and daughters fought gallantly and finally won total victory against the Japanese militarist aggressors. Having sustained military and civilian casualties of over 35 million, accounting for one third of total casualties during WWII, and economic costs of USD 600 billion as calculated by value at 1937, the Chinese people finally defeated the Japanese militarist invaders, and thus preserving China's 5,000-year-old civilization, and upholding the cause of peace of mankind. With huge national sacrifices, the Chinese people fought against the major force of Japanese militarism and held ground in the main theater in the East of the World Anti-Fascist War. They not only ensured the national survival, but also strongly supported the resistance forces on the theaters in the Europe and the Pacific.

    The Chinese people have become an important force in preserving the post-war world order. Safeguarding the authority and role of the United Nations is an inevitable choice for safeguarding the victory of the Second World War, to which the Chinese people have made great contributions. China cherishes this hard-won achievement and firmly supports the UN in fulfilling its responsibilities, maintaining peace and stability and benefiting the people of the world. As the first founding member state to sign the UN Charter, China always abides by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. As the largest developing country in the world and a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council, China has unswervingly defended the achievements of the World Anti-Fascist war, unswervingly followed the path of peaceful development, unswervingly maintained world peace, unswervingly pursued the strategy of opening up for mutual benefit and win-win results, and has always been a promoter of world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of international order.

    The victory of the Chinese people is the victory of all peace-loving people in the world. It is achieved by the mutual support of peace forces around the world. In their war against Japanese aggression, the Chinese people received extensive support from the international community, including the Soviet Union and United States. The Chinese people will always remember what the people of other countries did for the victory of their War of Resistance. Here, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Russia, the United States and other governments of the Allies in World War II and friends all over the world who have supported and helped the Chinese people's resistance against aggression, and send my highest consideration to the veterans who fought the Anti-Fascist War in North Macedonia!

    Amid these once-in-a-century changes and the enormous impact of COVID-19, the myriad challenges before us have driven home the fact that this is an era of intertwined traditional and non-traditional security threats as well as inter-connected interests of all countries, and our world is becoming an indivisible community with a shared future. In the post COVID-19 era, where should we be headed? We should be determined to maintain peace, cherish the hard-won victory of World War II, and work together to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

    In the interest of peace, we must build a international environment that features enduring peace and win-win cooperation. We should draw lessons from history as a mirror, resolutely oppose unilateralism and protectionism, and maintain international and regional peace and stability. The Chinese nation has always been peace-loving, which originates from our unchangeable pursuit in "universal peace" despite all difficulties and setbacks in our history. We believe in the philosophy of "peace is of paramount importance" and "peace and harmony should always prevail", and adhere to the tenet of "do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you" and "all men under heaven are brothers" in our daily lives. To keep harmony with other actors has always been crucial genes in the Chinese culture, which has been passed down from generation to generation. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, we have been sticking to the path of peaceful development and maintaining friendly relations with people of all countries. As an active participant, supporter and contributor of the international system, China will resolutely work with all countries to defend the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

    In the interest of peace, we must embrace the development and promote opening up, cooperation and common prosperity. The right to survival and development is basic human rights. If one billion people in the world were in the state of extreme poverty or hunger for a long time, peace and development would be out of the question. We should attach great importance to the challenges brought by the epidemic to the implementation of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. We should place development at the core of the policy framework from a global and macro perspective, and strive to create an open, inclusive, balanced and win-win global development for the benefit of all, as well as resolutely abandon the philosophy of zero-sum game and the concept of "the winner takes all". COVID-19 has exposed the deficit in global governance and renewed the de-globalization clamor. There are growing attempts to encourage decoupling economies, financial sanctions and technological fragmentation. Such acts of regression must be stopped with united efforts. We should promote the multilateral trade system with the World Trade Organization as its cornerstone. National security should not be abused as a cover for discriminatory or exclusive policies. Decoupling in whatever form must be rejected, so must smearing and suppression and abusing technological supremacy. We should advance international cooperation in both economic and social fields, not engage in major power competition and strategic confrontation, so as to prevent wars from breaking out in the first place.

    In the interest of peace, we must create a security architecture that is fair, just, and shared by all. In the era of economic globalization, the security of all countries is intertwined and closely related. Therefore, we advocates a new vision on common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security. Promoting "New Cold War" will not make anyone great. Ideological crusades will not solve any problem in today's world and is doomed to fail. All forms of cold war mentality and export of ideologies should be resolutely abandoned. Facing global crisis, we must cooperate to cope with them and turn crisis into opportunities. Obsession with force will not work. The only right choice is to achieve collective and common security through cooperation. We need to safeguard the international order underpinned by international law. We need to oppose unauthorized use of force. Withdrawal from international organizations and agreements and other such actions which weaken the authority and sanctity of international law should be rejected. We need one single set of rules, not double standards or selective application of these rules, when determining the merits of an issue. We must also reject unlawful acts.This means that we should give full play to the core role of the United Nations and the Security Council in the field of peace-keeping. And we need to respect and guarantee the security of every country, and maintain the security of both traditional and non-traditional areas through dialogue and cooperation.

    In the interest of peace, we must establish the partnership of equality, mutual consultation and mutual understanding. The future and destiny of the world should be determined by all countries. Hegemonism, power politics, and gross intervention in other countries' internal affairs must be strongly opposed. All countries should abide by the basic norms of international relations such as respect for each other's sovereignty. The principle of sovereignty not only means that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries are inviolable and their internal affairs are not subjected to interference. It also means that all countries' right to independently choose social systems and development paths should be upheld, and that all countries' endeavors to promote economic and social development and improve their people's lives should be respected. Different social systems are rooted in different histories and traditions. Each civilization represents the unique vision and contribution of its people, and no civilization is superior to others. We should respect all civilizations and treat each other as equals. We should draw inspirations from each other to boost the creative development of human civilization in the post COVID-19 era.

    History has told us that wars are devils and nightmares and peace is like air and sunshine, which we do not realize their presence until we lost them. Peace, development and win-win cooperation form an irresistible trend of the times. Let us come together to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful post COVID-19 world that enjoys lasting peace, security and prosperity for all.